Morgan James Hutton
Kaily Murphy
Morgan James Hutton
James Hutton, he was born on June 3, 1726, in Edinburgh, Scotland and died March 26, 1797. He was a Scottish geologist, chemist, naturalist, and originator of one of the fundamental principles of geology—uniformitarianism, which explains the features of the Earth’s crust by means of natural processes over geological time.
James Hutton's discovery
In the rocks of Scotland, Hutton found fingers of granite reaching well into sedimentary rocks and saw this as evidence of subterranean fire and heat. He also found neatly deposited layers of sedimentary rocks overlaying rock layers that were almost vertical. The lower layers of rock, he concluded, must have been deposited eons before, and then later upturned. Based on these findings, Hutton was the first to describe the vast expanses of time in Earth's history. These findings were reported in 1785 in a paper entitled, Theory of the Earth, often cited as one of the seminal foundations of geological theory.
Setting of his research
He conducted his research in 1785 in Scotland.
Why his discovery is important
Because of his discovery of uniformity, scientist have a better understanding of what the world was like in the past.
How his discovery impacted society
Modern day scientist have used this theory to study the past and help make the future better.
Citations
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Henry_Raeburn_-_James_Hutton,_1726_-_1797._Geologist_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
http://bio-geo-terms.blogspot.com/2007/01/strata.html